Thiol/Disulfide Homeostasis in Schizophrenic Patients

To determine serum thiol/disulfide homeostasis in schizophrenic patients. Serum native thiol, total thiol, and disulfide levels measuremented in the patients with 42 schizophrenia and 42 the healthy subjects. Serum native thiol, total thiol, and disulfide levels measuremented with a novel automated method. The thiol/disulfide ratio was also calculated. The Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) was used to assess the patients. The native thiol (p < 0.001) and total thiol (p < 0.001) levels, and the native thiol/total thiol (p = 0.018) ratio were significantly lower, whereas disulfide/native thiol (p = 0.002) and disulfide/total thiol (p = 0.002) ratio significantly increased in the schizophrenia patient group compared to the control group. A statistically significantly positive relationship was found between PANSS positive subscale with disulfide (r = 0.43, p = 0.01). Significantly positive relationships were found between PANSS total subscale with disulfide/total thiol (r = 0.308, p = 0.047). Our results suggest that the disulfide/thiol ratio is significantly greater in schizophrenia patients and disulfide/thiol ratio is closely related with the patients' clinical symptoms.